Dog Treats
Two kids were walking through the corridors of Hogwarts. The castle, at that hour of midnight, looked completely different than it did during the day. Even the portraits seemed to be sleeping.
The candles were still lit, though they barely managed to chase away the darkness gathering in the corners; the atmosphere was slightly gloomy, with that eerie vibe only a haunted castle can truly have. Well, technically, it was haunted; there were ghosts floating everywhere, talking portraits, and suits of armor that suddenly shifted position or even sneezed.
"Did that reflection in the mirror just wave at me?" Percy wondered as he looked at a mirror that, for some reason, was sitting right in the middle of the hallway.
Why would there be a mirror there? And worst of all, it looked rather friendly. Better not get close.
"It really gives a different vibe at night, doesn't it?" Percy said as he turned around, only to find Neville, who was scared down to his bones. His face was so pale it looked like he'd just seen a dementor.
Percy hadn't noticed earlier because Neville had run behind him all the way from the kitchen without thinking too much; but now, in that silent corridor, the place was honestly creepy.
"You need to be a little braver," Percy said, giving him a pat on the back.
Poor Neville, who had been focused on not looking at anything strange, jumped a little.
"Eeek!" he squeaked softly.
His cry seemed to wake up some of the portraits along the hallway.
"Hey, some of us are trying to sleep; you should go back to your rooms and do the same," complained a portrait before shutting its eyes again, as if it could actually rest.
"Ah… sorry," Neville said toward the frame.
Percy, meanwhile, was wondering why a portrait would even need to sleep. Maybe he'd ask when he was more awake.
"Since we arrived, I've wanted to explore the castle, but I haven't had the time," Percy said with an excited smile.
"Harry is missing out," he added, thinking of his brother. Normally he would have followed him, but at this hour he was surely so asleep he wouldn't even notice Percy wasn't in bed.
"Percy… we need to be careful with Filch or Mrs. Norris," Neville said, more worried than ever.
"You worry too much. It's not like the guy is awake all night just waiting to catch students outside their rooms," Percy said, as if the idea were ridiculous.
Though, thinking about it… that was exactly what the guy would do.
At that moment, something sounded behind them.
Footsteps.
Several footsteps.
"Oh, crap… Neville, run," Percy said quickly.
They both dashed forward without looking back. Neville, trembling with fear, followed him without hesitation.
Wherever they ran, the footsteps followed, sounding closer each second. Percy immediately thought about hiding.
He grabbed Neville's arm and pulled him into a corner beside the Trophy Room, just behind a metal suit of armor. It didn't cover them much, but with the hallway's darkness, it might be enough.
They heard the footsteps getting closer while Neville held his breath.
Percy felt a bit nervous too; breaking one more rule would be his end. But luckily for them, the footsteps passed by and entered the Trophy Room instead. Both let out a sigh of relief.
"Were those students? Why on earth would they want to look at trophies in the middle of the night? Are they idiots?" Percy muttered, listening to the murmurs inside while the door closed.
"Percy… we should go," Neville said, completely nervous.
"Mmm… fine," Percy sighed as they came out of hiding.
"By the way, we're on the third floor, right? Isn't this where the old headmaster said we shouldn't go unless we wanted to die a painful death?" he asked, looking around.
The words made Neville even more nervous; he looked like he was about to cry.
"Yes… but I don't remember which part of the third floor," Neville answered, inspecting each nearby door carefully.
"You're so dumb, Neville," Percy said, shaking his head in fake disappointment.
"Obviously, it's the north wing."
"Did he say that?" Neville asked.
"I don't know. But if you're going to leave something dangerous, the north side is better," Percy said confidently… and then immediately started walking east, exactly toward the place Dumbledore had forbidden them to enter.
Neville, feeling that Percy might somehow be right, followed him.
They both walked carefully. At one point they heard Peeves's sinister laughter, so they tried to stay hidden and make as little noise as possible; they definitely didn't want the poltergeist on them right now.
Suddenly, behind them, they heard a loud crash. A suit of armor had fallen with enough force to wake the whole castle.
Percy turned around, confused. A moment later, someone stepped out through one of the tapestries of a hidden corridor.
"Eh… Harry?" he said, seeing his brother running toward them at full speed.
Behind Harry were Hermione and Ron, panting like they had run a marathon; Harry, of course, wasn't tired at all.
"What are you guys doing?" Percy asked with the relaxed smile of someone bumping into friends during a midnight stroll.
Harry was this close to jumping on his brother to beat him up for all the trouble they had gotten into because of him.
But Hermione spoke first, exhausted:
"I told you," she said, catching her breath.
"I told you!" she repeated, nearly furious.
"Malfoy tricked you, didn't you realize? Filch knew we'd be there," she added, glaring at Harry.
"And I told you I didn't go because of Malfoy; I was looking for this idiot," Harry said, pointing at Percy, who was smiling like he didn't understand a thing, which only irritated Harry more.
"Where the hell were you?" Harry demanded angrily.
But before Percy could answer, a nearby door opened and someone floated out.
Peeves.
Attracted by noise, as always.
And to think Neville and Percy had struggled so much to get past that area without Peeves noticing them…
"Wandering around at midnight, first–years; eh? eh? eh?" cackled Peeves with that wicked grin he always wore whenever he had a chance to cause trouble. His voice echoed through the entire corridor. "How naughty, how naughty; they'll catch you and punish you," he added while floating around them.
"Not if you don't snitch on us, Peeves… please," Hermione said, trying to reason with that annoying poltergeist.
"I must tell Filch; it is my duty," he answered self-righteously, as if he were some honorable spirit. His eyes shining with malice made his lie even more obvious.
"It's for your own good; you know that," he added.
He was truly unbearable.
"Get out of the way," Ron said, punching right through him, which of course didn't harm Peeves at all. It only made things worse.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves screamed at the top of his lungs… if a poltergeist even had lungs.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" he repeated, like some kind of human alarm. If he were human.
"Seriously?" Percy asked, looking at Ron, who now wore a completely guilty expression.
Without wasting any time, Harry grabbed all of them and they started running, darting beneath Peeves at full speed like velociraptors escaping a tyrannosaur.
They ran straight to the end of the corridor, crashing against a door that was locked.
"We're doomed," said Ron as everyone pushed, trying to open it to no avail.
Meanwhile, Percy could hear footsteps approaching. Filch was running straight toward them, and judging by the speed of the sound, he seemed to be in much better shape than Percy imagined.
That decrepit old man could definitely run.
"Move," Hermione and Harry said at the same time, pushing Ron aside. For a moment they glanced at each other, confused, but then both pulled out their wands and aimed at the lock.
"Alohomora," they said in unison.
The lock clicked open instantly. They stared at each other again, surprised by the synchrony, while Ron couldn't help but remember his brothers Fred and George.
"You idiots, get in," Percy said, pushing them inside. He closed the door quickly, and they all pressed themselves against it, listening in silence.
On the other side, they could hear Filch arriving.
"Where did they go, Peeves? Tell me right now!" the man demanded.
"Say the magic words," Peeves answered in that shrill, mocking tone.
"Don't mess around; just tell me," Filch growled.
"No, no… the magic words," Peeves insisted.
Filch let out a tired sigh. "Fine… please tell me."
"No, no, those aren't the magic words! Hahahaha!" Peeves laughed loudly as he drifted away, cackling. Filch began cursing at him.
"Looks like we're safe," Harry said in relief.
But at that exact moment, he heard something behind him. His brother's voice.
"Hey… you're not the one from my dreams, right? Your three heads look kind of similar; though the other one was a bit more transparent," Percy said nervously.
Harry swallowed hard.
Three heads.
That was never a good sign.
And if they were dreams the two of them had shared before… even worse.
Harry turned around slowly.
First he saw Percy, who was looking up.
Then he followed his gaze.
And there it was.
As if he were standing inside one of his nightmares.
A massive three-headed dog; six glowing eyes; so huge it nearly reached the ceiling.
For a moment, Harry felt like maybe he really had fallen asleep and this entire adventure was just a weird dream.
All six eyes were fixed on them, and from its mouths, full of yellow teeth, thick saliva dripped… as if it were looking at an all-you-can-eat buffet of students walking willingly into its room.
Harry understood immediately that the only reason they weren't already dead was because they had entered by surprise.
But his sobriety returned instantly when he heard Percy's next words:
"If I scratch your belly, will you let us leave without eating us?"
Harry rolled his eyes.
His brother truly had a gift for saying the worst possible thing at the worst possible moment.
The dog moved its paws, preparing to pounce. Luckily, as it pushed off, it seemed to slip slightly on the floor, giving them barely a second.
A second was enough for all of them to burst into a full sprint.
Better to be caught by Filch than turned into dog treats.
Fortunately for them, Filch was no longer on the other side when Harry slammed the door shut.
The group of five sprinted through all the corridors they had run through earlier, not looking back even once, until they finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Where have you been?" the Fat Lady asked, watching them arrive drenched in sweat and struggling to breathe. Well… all of them except Harry and Percy, who were in better shape.
"It doesn't matter… pig snout, pig snout," Harry said, repeating the password twice just in case.
For a brief moment, he thought he heard Percy whisper: "Oh, so that was the password… then I was right. I just didn't say it because I didn't want to look like an idiot."
"How can they have THAT in the school? Are they crazy?" Ron said the moment they stepped inside the common room.
"Didn't you see what was under its paws?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"The floor?" Percy asked.
"She means the trapdoor," Harry explained; he had noticed it too.
"I was paying more attention to their faces. Didn't you see there were three?" Ron said, still terrified.
Hermione frowned even more. "It's definitely guarding something… and I'm not interested in finding out what or getting into trouble. They could've killed us or, worse… expelled us. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed." She turned around and walked away immediately.
Neville, who was still completely mute as if he had forgotten how to speak forever, received a light tap on the shoulder from Percy to make him react and head to bed as well.
"I think she needs to fix her priorities," Ron said, while Harry stared at the floor, pensive, thinking about the trapdoor beneath the Cerberus. He then followed the others to bed. They had already had more than enough excitement for one night.